Aw that's nice, didn't see this. Anyway I almost began a topic called "The Afterlife" but was afraid it would be misconstrued as pushing well, I don't know, something. I am curious though about "events" that have occurred regarding people who have passed on.

When my Grandma, who I was extremely close to died, on the night of her wake, while I was trying to fall asleep, in that place between awake and sleep, I heard her voice clear as a bell say, "Hi Erin, we can have a cup of tea any time". The tone of her voice was overwhelmingly happy. I jumped up in bed not shaken, but ecstatic for the peace she sounded to be in, and that it seemed one day we could meet again. I believed it was her trying to tell me she was ok, that everything was ok, in life and after. She would have tried to do that for me if she could, I know it.

I looked at my clock and remembered it was precisely 3:31am which meant I had drifted off to sleep a little. I told my mom about it the next day and she looked at me funny and said do you know what time it was? I told her the time and the look became a huge smile. My mom told me that she heard "Hi (my mom's name)" from my Grandma at 3:30am. This was my Dad's mom, but my mom was just as close to her as I was.

Last night my favorite cousin who had a rough life and who died several years ago from an overdose said Hi Erin to me in the same way, knocked me straight up in bed. His tone was joyous, happy, content. I felt so good about it.

Now I know I probably sound crazy but has anyone else had similar experiences?

My dad, whom I adored, died when I was eight. He was funny, and fun-loving, and Christmas was his favorite holiday. The first Christmas after he died, my mother and I had been away from home because my oldest nephew had just been born. We got home just a day or so before Christmas, and decided to put up a Christmas tree.

We couldn't afford purchased decorations for the tree, but mother always made "snow" out of powdered ivory soap. It was the last thing to go on the tree, and when we'd finished, she went to the kitchen to wash the "snow" stuff, and I went the other direction to the bathroom to get ready for bed. And then we heard the mantel clock strike.

The clock was my father's, but it hadn't run right in my memory. I'd gone with him a couple of times to take it to a clock repair shop, but they could never regulate it to keep regular time. And I had, in spite of being forbidden to touch it, played with it and lost the winding key behind the mantel where it fell down a crack. So it hadn't been wound since before my dad died 11 months earlier.

But it started running that night, and in spite of only being a 24 hour clock, ran for nearly a week, keeping perfect time. And then it quit, and never ran again. We always felt like Daddy had come back to spend Christmas with us.

I was so taken by your story bpatters, I probably sounded insensitive. I am sorry if it sounded that way and I am so sorry your Dad passed away. I'm sure it wasn't a great time, but still, an amazing happening with the clock.

I have a Grandfather's clock, made by my maternal G. Pa., while recouperating from five-way heart bypass. It didn't chime the day he died. The phone rang and it was my Grandma I said, "He's dead... Before my Mom picked up the rotary phone.

My Sis described that my Dad ( who passed away when I was two, and she three ) had been wearing a hat in his casket and she had seen him, but wasn't allowed to the funeral. She described it as a derby. My Mom gasped and asked how she knew.

I've been visited by my Mom about five years after she died. We didn't speak, but there was emotions given. She was pleased with me and my kids. I emoted that I loved her, and missed her very much. She then disappeared and I cried. It was so emotional. She never met my kids when alive, and hadn't met Mr. Wheekers.

One son talked to her when he was two. He told me he was playing with " Mary" many times after a nap. He had never even heard her name, as he was born years before I was married. Mary continued until one day I found him, and he was crying. He said, My Mary went away. He was crying. Now at 28, he gets a bugalooed around ghosty things. Won't watch ghost stuff on tv.

For some reason thoughts about certain people that were in my life. I will google them, and see they've died that day. Its happened four times.

My father had been in the World Financial Center on 911. It’s only a couple hundred yards from where the World Trade Center was. I believe he was thinking about retiring early from military and was looking into a job at Merrill lynch, in security. It’s not important but what is important was that he was there when the planes hit.

He made it home and was mad no one came to the train station for the emotional homecoming/you’re ok greetings like they did for all the other husbands getting off the trains. Everyone just said, “we knew you would get out”
I recall this all second hand and in retelling because I was only 2 years old at the time. A few days later my brother who was 4 years old was playing in his sand box. My Dad was packed and on his was to get ready to go to Afghanistan when he went to talk to his son and try to explain he was leaving.

My dad recalls my brother was building in the sand like normal but what he saw floored him. My brother had built two symmetrical towers in the same shape as the WTC. When my father asked him what he was doing he was silent. My Dad kept asking and finally my brother said something to the effect of people think kids don’t know things, but we do. We know the things adults are doing are bad and not the things He wants to be done.

When asked who HE was, he wouldn’t say. There is a whole lot more to what was said and it is really amazing. My mother and father said they were careful about not having news on especially since my Dad would be attached to what happened. They realized some news and discussion must have slipped out and my brother would have an idea but he was only 4 and what my father says he told him is beyond comprehension. The gist of it is that my brother spoke for some time as if someone or something was speaking through him, because as smart as he is, and he is quite intelligent, at 4 years old he couldn't have a clue as to the things he was saying, says my Pop. My Dad can’t repeat the story without getting emotional, so he really doesn’t. I’ve heard him try to tell it twice and he never finished.

Yes, I believe kids have an innocent and open viewpoint. As we get older we learn that talk about that freaks people out. We stifle weird thoughts and keep it to ourselves. I was sorta afraid to talk about it, even here. But out of all the internets, here I should be safe.

I have also had passed pets come back for a visit. I still hear a wheek, here and there, and other stuff.

I liked to hear everyone's experience. I think it happens more than people notice.

I’ve definitely had some similar experiences as the ones here. My brother died suddenly when he was 17 and I was 7. As you can imagine it absolutely devastated my family and they never really talked about it for many many years.

One sunny morning when I was 16, a friend and I were walking on the front lawn past my parents parked cars to walk across the street. My friend looked over, stopped dead in her tracks and made a startled sound. I followed her line of vision and there in the front passenger seat of my moms car was my brother. He looked just as he had alive at 17. He had a white T shirt on and was staring directly at me, more like into me. He always had very intense eyes. Then he faded away.

I did not say anything to my friend about who it was. We just looked at eachother and asked “Did you see what I just saw?” I did end up telling her it was my brother some time later, but she had never met him. I always felt like it was a warning for me because of my age at the time. He made a dumb mistake as some teenagers do and ended up paying for it with his life. He swam in a river with his football buddies and it ended badly. I have not seen him since.

I have experienced some crazy things in my life that make me believe that it’s too crazy to NOT believe it.

That is amazing Clint. There is so much going on that I don't think we fully understand.

I'm fairly young to like the types music I do, for lack of a better term I like hippy music. Give me the good ol Grateful Dead! I am too young to ever have experienced the real band so I've read everything I can about their music and history, along with listening to their music almost exclusively for a few years. As most know they were supported in the beginning by Owsley Stanley who made the LSD for most of the country, for some time.

Owsley (Bear) was a genius and quite the character. I've never done LSD nor will I ever but I've read a great deal about the experience, the hallucinations and more. What Bear said about it was as good an explanation as I think I've found and it would explain a lot of other things. One day Bear was doing the drug and listening to music but he began to see the music coming out of the speakers, he touched it, watched it - obvious hallucination. However, Bear was also the sound engineer for the Dead and one of the founders of Amblic, one of the most advanced sound companies in the world, he was a pioneer and certainly an expert on sound, he knew sound. He claimed what he learned that day about sound he took forward for the rest of his life, he believed what was happening and learned more about sound that day than the entirety of his life working with it.

He then also believed that LSD does not cause the hallucinations, and in fact the hallucinations are real, the drug only allows the brain to open channels allowing us to see what is really happening, but what we don’t need to see. Kind of a type of evolution of the brain occurred where we only see in this world what we need to see for our survival. So that would explain an awful lot of things that happen to us occasionally, just like Clint’s story.

You know that’s an interesting way to look at at. The older that I get the more I think it is possible that there are different layers (of dimensions? Consciousness?) that we may be conditioned to ignore. Which may also explain why children seem to be so perceptive sometimes. They haven’t been “trained” out of it yet.

I know as a kid my parents would poke fun at me if I said something that they thought was a fib, so I learned not to talk about it. I had at least one episode of sleep paralysis a few years ago that made me question an awful lot. I have a very wise hippie friend that used to drop LSD and live in a commune. I should go ask about her thoughts!

I’ve read some about sleep paralysis and I understand the science behind it. This was not a night terror though it was very odd.

My boyfriend had fallen asleep on the couch and I didn’t disturb him and went up to bed. Around 11pm I woke up with cramps and got up to take some Advil and get a hot water bottle. I tried watching TV in bed until maybe 3:30am and I closed my eyes, but I could hear the TV still.

Then I heard my boyfriend come up the stairs and figure that he’s just going to get ready for work. He does not head to the bathroom, instead he turns towards the bed and comes around the foot of the bed towards me. At this point I can’t open my eyes or speak, so I hold my left hand out. And I still remember the weather lady’s voice on the TV as this is happening. Well what took my hand was not his hand, it was a very small, very soft and wrinkled woman’s hand. At this point I try to move, speak, look, anything. And I can’t. It felt like forever, but was probably a few minutes. I was able to finally move my knee and I opened my eyes. There’s the weather lady on TV and no boyfriend.

I head downstairs to see if it was him, he’s still asleep on the couch and it’s dark.

Sure I could have been so exhausted that I dozed into that twilight middle ground where you feel like your falling and jerk awake, but this was so weird. And to be honest, that house had some stuff going on. I was not afraid, but since the day we moved in it was odd. And we lived in the unit next door for 2 yrs and everything was fine there. I know your probably thinking that I’m on the crazy train! But that’s ok. I try to be as grounded, objective and logical as I can. I am a science nerd after all.

Sorry this is long but if you're interested,..... It's occurred to me I have posted gpig updates all over the place and shouldn't do that. I guess I'll try to keep them here? I thought about a new thread but he would be mortified if I did that. In any event, here is the first real update I've received:

I spoke to my Pop this past Monday night for the first time in a while where it was more than hi how our you, everything ok, have to go I'm on a SAT phone. Back at home they had a storm and quite a bit of damage. My mom and brother were without power from last Wednesday to Sunday morning past. I could tell It bothered my dad terribly that he wasn't around to look after my Mom.

Now, the first thing, my brother is more than capable of taking care of his Mom. Second, our house is like a fortress. Lastly, anything that needs to be done/can go wrong due to a storm or power outage has been taken care of, i.e. generator in place that switches on automatically, 6 different men come to plow the driveway (along with my brother already doing it), they're going to dig up the macadam it's been so over-plowed - but they all want to say gpig I plowed your driveway, can I have, or can you do this or that for me? Terrible of me to say that but it's true, everyone wants something from him.

It seems and sounds like he has a severe case of guilt - Guilt from a long time of being away, missing things. This coming Saturday, St Paddy's Day, is my Mom and Dad's anniversary and barring a miracle he will miss it. More guilt. We talked for a long time into the night about this being the last time he will be away yet in the same conversation he did say he may need to go back one more time but in context this one time does mean finishing what he started. He spoke to me about my embarking on a career that will find me away much of the time and the trade offs. Thing is, I didn't notice him not being around growing up. It wasn't as bad as he makes it out to be be but I guess it bothers him.

Anyway, on to the Africa update and what I started to write; All the kids are singing the songs Sofia and I had taught them. We had brought them old dvd players and tons of dvds to listen to. They are driving the older people crazy. My Dad had taken shoe sizes and sent all the kids (67) pairs of converse all-star sneakers. He was very worried someone wouldn't get a pair but they all did and they wear them all the time. When he arrived they all came running to his helicopter to hug him - he was afraid someone would get hurt but all was ok. He said he cried but was happy they remembered him and care for what he's trying to do. They wanted to know what Sofia and myself were up to and were disappointed we weren't with him. He admonished me for not writing to them more - note to self, write letters.

Elephants and Rhinos; Conversation takes a turn here and I begin talking to someone not so familiar to me anymore. The situation is serious. The price of the contraband, lets call it what it is; body parts from slaughtered beautiful creatures has gone through the roof. He hopes and believes it's supply and demand. That the efforts people are making to stop the flow of contraband have been somewhat successful. There are many other initiatives taking place other than just the one is is involved with and in some other countries. I think they are a bit different than the one he's involved in though.

However, the down side is there are people protecting poachers that are about my Dad's age and have gained their experience in places like Chechnya, The Ukraine, Bosnia, etc. He says this gives an idea of how much money they are making. They are mercenaries and go where they will make the most, especially as they wind down being able to make money doing that type work. All he can tell me to lessen my worry is that he is focused, committed and is at the best he has ever been. He believes in what he is doing and is driven by it. I now that counts for a lot with him, not just psychologically but in the things he becomes capable of doing physically also.

He believes that anyone killing these animals deserves to die. I know, I know. He believes they need to be protected at all cost. He is trying very hard to be home for Easter and thinks one more trip and he can accomplish what he set out to do, leave the people in a place where they can maintain and sustain their own security against the type people I described a little, he wants to give them a chance. Then that will be all for him forever. He told me he means it, he has learned enough to know you can't run forever, the odds just aren't in it.

Not really Lynx. I think we were hoping for Easter but as my Mom said; if this can be the last trip, he should take as much time as needed, finish, and don't look back. No regrets. I think she understands this is the end of a chapter in his life and it is important for him to end it on a positive note. No more trips to Syria, Turkish border etc. No more “humanitarian trips” mired in political sewage. This is for animals and he relates to them much better than he does people, it is as it should be.

One of the down sides for him is he is missing time with his beloved dog who is now 9, that destroys him. I think he counts the days he doesn’t spend with her. Yes, my mom has learned to live with it I think if people can tell things about people from their dogs, it’s telling his dog is a funny little dachshund, not a big rugged lab type that rides in the back of his truck. His dog rides with her harness in a seat belt.

Is it dangerous Lynx? Perhaps a little. I am grateful I had the opportunity to spend time with his friend Como. Had I not, I would be more worried. He told me things about the old man that put my mind at ease, to some extent. In scout type parlance, the old man is called "good in the woods.” Apparently, simple as it sounds, there is no higher accolade. He has the ability to become animal like with his senses, even zen like, where in situations of chaos things slow down and become more clear and focused. Some people run into burning buildings while others run out. Just how it is, I don’t think we choose that type thing in life.

I do remember asking Como, but aren’t’ there other people “good in the woods”? Well yes of course, he replied. So to your point, I think there is danger but it is as minimal as it can be. I think because the situation is what it is is why he feels he has a responsibility. He is one of the people that has been trained for, and can work through the danger. Please don’t anyone misunderstand that to mean he is a gun blazing, bullet proof hero type. He is not by any means. That exists only in the movies and If I don’t make that clear he’ll kill me. It is about training and the ability he developed to work through situations some would find difficult.

He is a hero to me though, as every father should be to their daughter Of course this is also the person who will try to pull a tree limb down from 50 feet with a winch form a tow truck. so… focus and clarity notwithstanding, gotta worry about that common sense!

Yes, that winching trees thing, sometimes there are unexpected consequences! I ran across a random person at Habitat for Humanity and we were talking about taking down trees. If I remember right, he mentioned some professionals who dropped a big tree branch that bounced up and wrecked a nearby porch.